Joint EBN–BAE policy webinar: State-of-play on the EU Startup and Scale-up Strategy

Rooted in Europe, scaling across borders: finance and internationalisation in the EU Startup and Scale-up Strategy

Monday 23 November 2026 · 15:00–16:00 CET • online • EU|BIC and BAE members only

The EU Startup and Scale-up Strategy was adopted in May 2025. Eighteen months later, significant parts are moving from communication to directives and legislation, and the parts that matter to ESOs and business angels have landed.

The European Business Wallet has been live since November 2025. The proposal for EU Inc., the 28th regime, was published on 18 March 2026 and is now in co-decision. The Scaleup Europe Fund (€5bn, with EQT as independent manager) completed its legal establishment on 4 August and expects its first investments this autumn, at Series B and beyond. The European Innovation Act was presented on 9 September, with public R&D procurement and IP-backed financing at its centre. A €20m Horizon Europe pilot is connecting 10 to 18 hubs into a cross-border scaling network. The Strategy’s 2026 commitment to support business angels and their networks, the European Innovation Investment Pact and the Action Plan for Women in Research, Innovation and Startups are still to come.

A company that grows stays in its first catchment area – ideally.

These instruments are built for a company expanding from Coimbra to Cologne. When it arrives, it needs people on the other side who know the market and will make the introductions.

Business angels and EU|BICs both work close to home. Angels know the founder, show up and follow the company. Half of EU|BICs operate at regional level and 30% at provincial level. That proximity makes the money and the support useful, and it thins at the border. A founder scaling into a second member state arrives without the relationships that made the first round work. A €5bn fund and a new corporate form do not supply those relationships. A handover between local angels and local incubators, from one country to the next, does.

Much of this already happens. In 2025, 110 certified EU|BICs across 24 countries supported 1,439 companies to expand across a border (2026 EU|BIC Impact Report, Building for Scale). Nearly three-quarters of the capital raised by EU|BIC clients last year came from private sources. Jurisdiction, corporate form and investor base are usually settled in the first or second round, years before Series B, and angels and incubators are in the room when a company decides where to begin scaling.

Yet, nearly 10% of Business Angels in Europe invest cross-border. This stands in stark contrast to their US counterparts, which report between 30-60% cross-state investments each year. What can ESOs, BAs, and policymakers learn from leading examples in the US and closer to home to build the much-needed tools to catalyse cross-border collaboration for angel investment in European startups?

What happens on 23 November

Bram Pauwels, EBN’s Chief Strategy Officer, opens with the leading question of the session: who helps a company reach its second member state? Ivan Lukac of the European Commission, Task Force Startups and Scale-ups, then sets out what the Strategy has delivered, what is in the legislative pipeline and what comes next for startup finance and market expansion. Luigi Amati, Vice-President Policy at Business Angels Europe, joins the Commission representative and EBN for a moderated conversation, and the final minutes are for questions from the audience.

It is the first joint session of the EBN–BAE strategic partnership signed in March 2026, and a direct follow-up to the EU|BIC Essentials Training 2026,“Think Global, Act Regional”, on 16–20 November.

The webinar is exclusive to members of EBN and BAE.